Pat Farr Elected Chair Of Lane County Board Of Commissioners

The Lane County Board of Commissioners elected Pat Farr as chair Tuesday for 2014. He will set the agenda for the governing body that represents more than 350 thousand people.

Credit Lane County

Farr says one of the first things the board will do is hire a new County Administrator:

Farr: "That's going to be a resounding decision-making process. What we do in the next couple of months will echo for a lot of years to come. Beyond that we have the budgetary situation that we're in, in terms of looking at how to fund existing services while we have demands for increasing services all the time."

Lane County voters last year approved a 5- year levy that doubles jail capacity. Farr anticipates working on a long term public safety funding plan.

Farr took over from outgoing chair Sid Leiken. Leiken went out with a rock 'n' roll State of the County address Monday, quoting Van Halen. Farr, who emigrated from England in the 1960s, is more of a Beatles fan.

Commissioner Faye Stewart was unanimously elected vice-chair of the Board.